Having looked at the wiki introduction I have a better understanding as to what it is. I love languages and had no idea that "wiki" actually meant something. I just figured the creators of "Wikipedia" made up the "wiki" part of the word and combined it with encyclopedia. You learn something new each day. The advice I've given in the past probably won't be changing much. I have said that if someone were to use a source like Wikipedia it could not be a primary source. Professors have frowned on the site so it is best if using sites like that at all to just get ideas and get the research elsewhere.
I have never edited Wikipedia nor do I plan on it. I've used the site to get basic bibliographic information for my own knowledge. Often this was after listening to something on the History Channel.
I think wikis will and do have a use, but it seems that this is secondary to the other resources that libraries have at their disposal.
I don't know enough about web syntax to comment - yet.
I agree with you, Susie, on NOT using Wikis as primary sources. Another type of wiki is the IMDB - Internet movie database. I didn't realize that was a wiki, but a friend of mine, who is in the business, told me that he reads it with skeptism, because many times, those contributing will exaggerate their roles and resumes. That was news to me!
ReplyDeleteSusie, I also have used Wikapedia as a personal information source after watching something on the History Channel or settling a disagreement with someone. It is easy and ok to use as long as you take it for what it is worth. I have used it for years and it was only this past summer that I found out what "wiki" means. My husband, I, my sister, and her husband went to Hawaii this summer and one of our tour guides told us that It is a Hawaiian word meaning 'fast'.
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